It is well recognized that unrelaxed knitted cotton fabric exhibits a distinct tendency to curl and/or fray at the edges due to unbalanced structures at the face and the back sides of the knitted fabric (See, e.g., Hamilton, R. J., & Postle, R., Bending and recovery properties of wool plain-knitted fabrics, (1974) Textiles Research Journal, 44, 336-343; Spencer, D., Knitting technology (2001), Cambridge: Woodhead). It is theorized that a knitted fabric curls and/or frays when cut because of elastic stored energies in the fabric in terms of bending and torsion. (See Basiri, et al., A new approach to de-curling force of single jersey weft-knitted fabric, Journal of The Textile Institute, 2008). It is theorized that during the curling and/or fraying process, these energies are released.
In general in traditional weft knitted fabric, the cut edges are raw edges which tend to curl, ladder, and fray because nothing holds the wales together along the edge once the fabric has been cut.
Thus, in traditional weft knitted garments, to prevent this fraying and curling, post-cutting edge treatments such as sewing with over locking stitches, sewing the cut edges together with additional material such as lace, rubber material etc., and/or performing thermal treatments are performed. These additional steps require additional materials, man power, and several processing steps adding additional costs to the garment manufacturing process.
Additionally, when hemming is used to treat the cut edges in traditional weft knit garments, the area in the vicinity of the hemming will be pressed and rubbed by the wearer of the garment. This is often uncomfortable for the wearer since the area of the hemming is of a different thickness and texture than the other surfaces of the garment.
Therefore, creating a weft knitted cotton-based fabric that resists the tendency to curl and/or fray at the cut edge would be a beneficial invention with many practical applications in the garment manufacturing industry. Such a fabric would ideally be comfortable, would provide a good aesthetic appearance, and because fewer additional treatments would be necessary during the manufacturing process, would be more cost effective than traditional cotton-based garment manufacture.